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My Divina review 12/6/2016

lisamarieh

By lisamarieh,
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lisamarieh

lisamarieh

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My husband, Brad, and I just returned home yesterday from our 10 day long, Southern Caribbean cruise on the MSC Divina. We had an amazing time, as we did last year on the Divina. I am going to break this review down into sections so I can effectively answer questions that I didn't know the answers to prior to taking this cruise so if anyone has the same questions, they will have the answers.

 

***Prior to the Cruise***

We made our reservations a year in advance through Cheap Cruises. Initially, we booked a Fantastica balcony, room 9145. I had read a review on that room on a different cruise review site and apparently it is set up differently and has a double sized balcony. We were both excited with the itinerary but asked the travel agent, repeatedly, if we needed passports since we were going to Colombia. She advised me that we did not. This was very important since my husband is unable, due to a bitter divorce and custody battle, cannot obtain a passport. Long story but the bottom line, no matter what the situation or the cost, Brad cannot get a passport. I was assured by the travel agent this would not be an issue. OK, so cruise booked. Now I had almost a year to pay for it!! By June, I had it paid for and I started to look at upgrades and drink packages. It became apparent that if I paid for a drink package for both of us, it would cost almost as much as upgrading to an Aurea balcony plus with the Aurea experience, we gained massages, My Choice dining, entrance to the adult only sundeck and various other little perks. Well, by the time I saved enough to pay for the upgrade, Aurea balconies were sold out. So I waited..... Sure enough, one opened in the beginning of October so I jumped on it. I, again, asked about the passport situation and was told it was not needed. I even made sure the agent asked the MSC agent and was told that while in Colombia, as long as we did an MSC excursion, we would be covered by the ship's visa but if we ventured out on our own, we might have a problem without a passport. We had no intention of venturing off on our own in Colombia. So now I had my Aurea balcony booked. Well, me never being satisfied, continued to watch the MSC website everyday for a Yacht Club room to open up. I figured I had paid this much, Yacht Club wasn't out of reach anymore. Well, it never happened, Yacht Club stayed sold out. But what did happen was a corner suite on the very front of deck 10 became available in November. It was a 2 room suite (separate living room and bedroom) with a large wraparound balcony that started off as a narrow balcony on the side of the ship and then wrapped around the front of the ship and widened enough for us to be comfortable sitting on the chairs. It had a metal balcony but the front section of it was lower than the section on the side so when we were laying in bed, we could look out and see the water. The amount to upgrade was minimal compared to what I all ready paid so it was a no brainer for almost twice the size!! I then purchased the All Exclusive massage package, the 100 picture photo package and a laundry package. We were ready to go!! I called MSC again to ensure that my husband would not need a passport, as I was told by people on this site that passports were required to go to Colombia and I was reassured by the agent that she had asked a supervisor and was told we would be fine since it was a closed loop cruise. I wanted to believe MSC and I should have but being a anxious person, I was terrified that we might get to the port and be told we could not board the ship. Finally, 12/5/2016 arrived and Brad and I were on our way to Miami!!!! We are approximately 4 to 5 hours away from Miami, depending on traffic. We checked into the Homewood Suites Miami Airport Blue Lagoon. We are Hilton Honors members so the stay costs us nothing and they provide free parking for the duration of the cruise. It is a nice place and they provide free drinks Monday- Thursday and light dinner. We had a few glasses of wine and some food and then off to the room to try to sleep so we could get up early!!

 

***Embarkation Day***

After a long night, I was awake every hour or so, I am like a kid on Christmas Eve the night before a cruise, we got up and had breakfast downstairs at the hotel. We then finished getting ready, got our luggage for the cruise out of the car and requested a Lyft car to take us to the port. We arrived at the Port of Miami around 10:15am and got on line with all the other passengers, waiting to get inside. We were told the doors would open at 11am to start letting everyone in to go through security and get to the terminal. Well, at 11am, we were all told we were at the wrong terminal (F) and that we needed to walk down to the last terminal (G). We were never told the reason for this was because the passengers from the previous cruise were still disembarking and would be for the next 3 or 4 hours! We just walked to the next terminal and waited about another hour and we were let in. After Brad and I went through security we entered the terminal. We had the Aurea check in counter with no line, which was a blessing because the line, at this point, was quite long. Both of our stomachs were in knots because we figured this was the moment of truth, was Brad going to be able to get on the ship without a passport. All the weeks of worrying when we should have just been anticipating a wonderful time, came down to what was going to happen in the next couple of minutes. Brad handed the agent his documentation. She looked at it, typed some things into the computer and then took my documentation. A couple of minutes later, we had our room key cards in hand and the two of us finally admitted to each other how scared we were that we would not be able to cruise!! Now, we finally relaxed and figured it was just a matter of a few minutes and we would be onboard since we had priority boarding due to having the Aurea experience. Well, we couldn't have been more wrong. On our last Divina cruise, we were in group 2 to board and we waited about a half hour. We were not assigned a group this time due to priority boarding so we figured it would be even quicker. Wrong!! After an hour and a half, a man with a microphone announced they were experiencing longer that usual disembarkation times for the previous cruise and MSC appreciated our patience. He did this a couple of more times until finally around 2pm, he announced for our group to board. Now, common sense would tell you that if you are not part of the first few groups to board, you shouldn't be blocking the area for people in the earlier groups to board. Wrong again. After battling our way to get to the embarkation area, being pushed and having luggage rolled over my foot, standing in line just to have someone come up from behind me and cut in front of me, numerous times yelling out AM I INVISIBLE, we finally made it and were walking up the steps to get on the ship!! I did not take home any of our embarkation photos that were taken a couple of minutes later. I had a look of pure disgust on my face and I chose not to remember this cruise, for years to come, with that photo. With all of this being said (I just read to Brad what I have typed so far and he said that I am making this sound like a negative review), we were moments away from boarding the Divina for the second time and for what turned out to be our favorite cruise thus far. There were a few hiccups that I will explain buy all in all, it was amazing!! After boarding, we walked to the bank of elevators and the fragnance of MSC immediately entered my nostrils, it was the most pleasant scent!!! We walked around, rediscovering the ship again. We are not buffet people so fighting our way through the herd of people on the 14th floor just to get some food that had all ready been picked over for an hour is not our cup of tea. We continued to explore the ship when I remembered reading that the food in the sports bar was now included in the cruise. We went in and were greeted by a smiling and very friendly bartender. He showed us the menu for the sports bar. It is only one page, all mainly bar food type items. We ordered mozzarella cheese sticks, spinach dip and chips and Brad got a cheeseburger (The MSC Burger!) Everything was delicious. We had a few drinks and continued to explore the ship. We found our assigned dining room, Black Crab lower. We had my choice dining so we could eat when we wanted to but we were assigned to a specified area in the dining room, not the same table or wait staff. On most nights we did have the same waiter because if we had a choice of which table we wanted, we always chose his section. We then made our way up to the excursion desk. We knew what excursions we wanted to go on but did not pre- book because I wanted to make sure certain things were included with the excursions and well, calling MSC before the cruise and asking these types of questions, does not always amount to an accurate answer. The information is much more accurate at the excursion desk but you do run the risk of the excursion being sold out by embarkation day. I had back up excursions planned if this happened but thankfully, it did not. We booked an excursion in Colombia, Aruba and Curacao. We did not book anything for Turks and Caicos because the beach is literally right there at the port and all the chairs and umbrellas located on the beach are free to use in addition to a pool complete with lounge chairs and cabanas. We also didn't book anything for Nassau as we have all ready been there twice this year and I still have no intention of getting my hair braided, thus we did not even get off the ship. Our next stop was the Aurea Spa. After a tour of the massage rooms and the salon, we advised the staff we had pre- booked a spa package with 3 massages each and we also each had a complimentary massage due to the Aurea experience we purchased. We made our appointments and then went to explore the thermal area. There were locker rooms, 3 saunas and 2 steam rooms. Nothing is co-ed. The women have 2 saunas and a steam room and the men have one of each. I would have preferred to gone to the steam room with my husband than most of the time, by myself, occasionally there was another woman in there but everyone had a swim suit on so I am not sure the reason for everything being segregated. There was also the relaxation room. It had 6 lounge chairs in it and soft music playing in the background. It had a full wall of windows looking out at the ocean. I had read in someone else's review that unless you you got there early, you could guarantee you would not get a chair. Not so on this trip. The place was a ghost town most days. One day when my husband and I were up there, we rounded the corner and heard this loud noise and several young adults were trying to hide their laughter. An other gentleman had fallen asleep and snored like no ones business!!! It was an amusing sound but I kept walking into the steam room as I didn't trust myself not to laugh and I would have felt terrible if I would have woke up this tired man. It was now getting close to 4pm and Brad and I figured our room should be ready so off we went to deck 10 to find room number 10008!!! Well, I knew that this was going to be a special room just by looking at the layout on the MSC website but Brad and I were blown away!! We walked in and there was a hallway about maybe 6 or 8 feet long and straight ahead was out living room with a couch and chair. We had a mini bar with the TV on top. The sliding glass door out to the balcony was straight across from the entrance door so our balcony started on the side of the ship. We walked out on the balcony and to our surprise, it continued all the way around to the font of the ship. There was a table and chairs in the front. It was a beautiful balcony and by cruise ship standards, rather large. Back inside, in the living room area there was a smaller closet and the entrance to the marble bathroom complete with bathtub. We didn't use the tub but it was nice having a larger sized shower as Brad and I are larger sized people!! We had the regular shower last year and while we were able to do what we had to do essentially, more room to do so was a wonderful and welcoming surprise!! We then went into the bedroom. Our bedroom had 2 floor to ceiling window only separated by a mirror that was about 2-3 feet wide. The rest of the wall was windows!! We could lay in bed and look out at the ocean. It was amazing!!! The room also had a vanity in one corner and a 3 drawer full sized built in dresser with 3 shelves above it. We had a closet that had a clothing rod about 5 feet in length and also the closet with the safe and 6 small drawers. We had more storage than we knew what to do with. All of our luggage fit under the bed which was perfect. Being that the cabin was an Aurea suite, we received robes and slippers for the duration of the cruise. The slippers we were allowed to take home with us because they don't reuse those for obvious reasons. We also received a room diffuser with the reeds and oil. The scent is that amazing fragrance I spoke of upon arrival on the ship!!! I am sitting here in my living room now, typing this review, with that fragrance all throughout my house!!! I tried to find another diffuser in the gift shop so I would have more than one but I was told they stopped selling them in Divina about 6 months ago. On the morning of day 2, I asked my room steward if he could possibly "locate" another diffuser for me. That evening, we arrived back to over room after he turned down the bed and on my bed waiting was my 2nd room diffuser!! I was ecstatic and rewarded him for this incredible find!! We relaxed for a bit in our room. Around 6:30pm, we headed to the sports bar to get a couple of glasses of wine to take back to the cabin for sail away. We enjoyed sailaway with a view few others had on this ship, looking directly ahead in the front of the ship. We then got ready and enjoyed a fantastic dinner. MSC had definitely improved their food, especially their soups. We enjoyed it last year but this year it was fantastic!!! Our waiter Cosme and his assistant Jose were so accommodating. In the Aurea section of the dining room, the wait staff learn early on what you like to drink and they have it ready for you when you arrive for dinner. Brad and I would sit down and within a minute or two, our wine gasses were being filled. One night, without even realizing it, we consumed more than 2 bottles of wine!! On that first night, I was exhausted from being awake so much the night before. We ate dinner, skipped the show, and went to the room. We were asleep less than a half an hour later.

 

I will continued this review in a little while!! On the second to last day of the cruise, I started to get a cold and now it is in full force so I need a break from the computer but I will continue a little later. If anyone has a Divina related question, ask me and I will be more than happy to answer it while the cruise is fresh on my mind!!

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Cap'n Ron

Cap'n Ron

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Enjoying your review so far! Sorry you had such a rough embarkation day, but sounds like the rest of the trip made up for it. We are booked in 10008 next June, so love reading more about that cabin! Do you have any pictures, especially of the balcony area and from the bedroom windows? Would love to see them if you could post a few, as I have yet to find any balcony pictures. Thanks and look forward to the rest of your review!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

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lisamarieh

lisamarieh

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One more question for you. Being on the bow' date=' did you hear any loud noises while docking early in the morning (anchor, lines, etc)? Thanks![/quote']

 

We had no issues with loud noises but we were generally awake before we pulled into port. We also didn't have to drop anchor anywhere. We did however, feel a lot of the rocking but we knew this was going to happen because we were traveling in December and the seas are rougher. also, in regards to your question about pictures, I have a bunch of the cabin and the balcony but I have no idea how to upload them. I will try to figure this out so you can see the cabin.

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Cap'n Ron

Cap'n Ron

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We had no issues with loud noises but we were generally awake before we pulled into port. We also didn't have to drop anchor anywhere. We did however, feel a lot of the rocking but we knew this was going to happen because we were traveling in December and the seas are rougher. also, in regards to your question about pictures, I have a bunch of the cabin and the balcony but I have no idea how to upload them. I will try to figure this out so you can see the cabin.

 

I'm glad to hear that there were no noise issues. If you can figure out how to post some pictures, that would be AWESOME! I've been searching for some actual shots of the balcony and the views from inside the cabin, so I really appreciate you trying to post them! We had originally booked in 9009, but when 10008 opened up, we jumped on it due to the bigger balcony. Thank you very much!

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lisamarieh

lisamarieh

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***Sea Days 2 and 3***

Since on a cruise sometimes the days seem to blend together, I am going to put day 2 and 3 in this section and hope that I can keep them as separate as possible. All of the things I am writing about come from my memory as I was far too busy to carry a journal around with me to remember each little incident.

 

We woke up to a beautiful day at sea. As I described before, we could see the ocean from the bed and we chose not to pull the curtains at night so we could open our eyes and immediately see the sea!! We ordered room service, as I am an ogre if I go anywhere without at least 2 cups of coffee in my system. I also get croissants and hubby gets danishes and cereal with milk and juice. After we ate, it was up to the spa for massage #1, a 45 minute Balinese massage. We both enjoyed this massage immensely, as we did all of the massages. When we were done with the massages, we went to the thermal spa for a little while. Then off to the Garden Pool on Deck 15. This was my favorite place last year as it was the least crowded pool. Now, it is much more crowded since the smoking section has been moved up there from deck 14. We enjoyed the pool but the boat was rocking so much at this time that half the water would go out of one side of the pool and then come back in when we would rock to the other side. It was dangerous for children or people who were not strong swimmers. I was worried for the children whose parents were no where to be found. I found that to be quite common.

 

On sea days, the Black Crab dining room is open for lunch. From what I could tell, there are 2 menus for lunch that are rotated every other sea day. The only reason I remember what I had that first day is because it was the best cannelloni I ever had. It is on the menu as an appetizer but you can have them make it as an entree. Absolutely fabulous!! The wait staff in the dining room at lunch are very good. After lunch Brad and I decided to try our luck at the casino. No such luck!! That afternoon was the Cruise Critic gathering in the Silver Lounge. I could not believe that so many people showed up!! MSC provided drinks and snacks. There were several high ranking staff that were present, including the captain himself!! The guest services manager and the International Host were also there. That brings me to issue I had about the onboard credit that I was supposed to get, that I never received. On Embarkation Day, I went to guest services to inquire about the $50 onboard credit that Brad and I were each supposed to get but never did. When we booked the cruise it was a Voyagers Selection cruise. Well, a couple of months later we status matched MSC from our Hilton Honors account. They gave us silver. When we were given silver, I called my travel agent and asked about the Voyagers Club $50 OBC for silver, gold and black members. They called MSC and MSC said that we were entitled to the credit and that we needed to ask for it when we got onboard. Of course, as you have all ready guessed, MSC had no record of it once we were onboard. So when the International Host started to make his way around the room to talk to individuals about what they like/ dislike about MSC, I mentioned this to him. I told him that I felt that the way MSC agents on land handle things is to push it off on to the MSC guest services on the ship. If they do not have the answer, they tell you to see guest service once onboard. Once onboard, you have no recourse if guest services doesn't properly handle the situation. He assured me that he was going to figure out what happened. More on that story later. Anyway, the cruise critic gathering was great. We met some nice people and scheduled the slot pull for the next day at 2pm. We then went back to the room and took a nap. My husband and I relax when we are on a cruise. We generally don't party too much, we much prefer relaxing when we don't have to go to work. At some point we woke up and went to dinner. I truly do not remember what I had but I am sure it was delicious!! As I said before, all of the things I put in this review are from my memory. We did got to the casino many of the evening after dinner but for the most part we would go back to the cabin and sit out on our balcony enjoying the sound of the ocean.

 

The morning of Day 3, we also scheduled a massage, after my morning coffee of course!! This massage was called the Himalayan Dream salt massage. It was wonderful but I have come to discover that all of the massages are pretty much the same, just different oils or objects they massage you with. This massage they used oil and pink salt blocks to massage you with. It was supposed to be an exfoliating massage. It was nice.

 

On this day, the boat was rocking terribly. At times it was almost nausiating and considering that our room was in the very front of the boat, we really felt it. I laid down for a little while trying to settle my stomach but I found I was better off in the middle of the ship. At 2pm, we met up with a portion of the people from Cruise Critic. We all put our money into a Wheel of Fortune machine and did our best. The money lasted about 30 or 40 minutes but more importantly, we all had a good time with some good people. We heard about a fellow cruise critic member that was at the meeting that had her wallet stolen at the Port of Miami. We took up a collection for her and I hope that money helped her to enjoy her cruise a little bit. I don't remember her name but I hope she didn't let that ruin her cruise. After the slot pull, we played a little longer and I think that was the day Brad won $200. That was the only day we won anything!! We made our way around the ships to the bars and lounges for a glass of wine or two, had dinner and then back up to the room for the night as we had an early arrival into Cartegena then next morning.

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Skier52

Skier52

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I'm glad to hear that there were no noise issues. If you can figure out how to post some pictures' date=' that would be AWESOME! I've been searching for some actual shots of the balcony and the views from inside the cabin, so I really appreciate you trying to post them! We had originally booked in 9009, but when 10008 opened up, we jumped on it due to the bigger balcony. Thank you very much![/quote']

 

To post images you need a image hosting account, they are mostly free. I use photobucket.

 

For windows OS this works

 

you upload your images to your account.

from there you click on a thumbnail of the image and it goes large.

to the right of the image are 4 boxes labelled

IMG

HTML

Direct

Email

 

click the "Direct" box and it flashes yellow and says "copied".

 

go to your reply box on CC

 

click where you want the image , then,

click the yellow square icon, sixth from the right,

paste the link in the box that appears and press return

 

job done.

Hope this enables you to post images , if not I'll start a thread and use pictograms to explain it. YOu can post a max of 6 images per reply including emoticons in that total.

 

Pete

Edited by Skier52
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lisamarieh

lisamarieh

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To post images you need a image hosting account, they are mostly free. I use photobucket.

 

For windows OS this works

 

you upload your images to your account.

from there you click on a thumbnail of the image and it goes large.

to the right of the image are 4 boxes labelled

IMG

HTML

Direct

Email

 

click the "Direct" box and it flashes yellow and says "copied".

 

go to your reply box on CC

 

click where you want the image , then,

click the yellow square icon, sixth from the right,

paste the link in the box that appears and press return

 

job done.

Hope this enables you to post images , if not I'll start a thread and use pictograms to explain it. YOu can post a max of 6 images per reply including emoticons in that total.

 

Pete

 

Wow, sounds so difficult but I will give it a try!! Probably much easier than it sounds!!!

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lisamarieh

lisamarieh

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***Day 4 Cartagena***

As I stated in an earlier post, we booked an excursion for Cartegena. We had an early arrival in to the port, 7am if I remember correctly. Brad woke me up when we got there as he had been awake for a few hours due to our cabin steward accidentally throwing his ear plugs out the day before. You see, Brad claims I snore. I tell him that since I have never heard it, he is lying. Nevertheless, he spent several hours every night on the couch in our living room because he says without his earplugs he can't sleep next to me!! LOL!!! More bed for me!! Anyway, we were docked in what appeared to be a shipping port. Nothing fancy, barges with shipping containers on them and such. I got up, had my coffee and got ready since our meeting place was the Pantheon Theater at 9:30am. We arrived, received our excursion number/ sticker and waited for our group to be called. We were on the Chiva Party Bus excursion. It was supposed to be an open air bus tour of the city and forts and a few other touristy areas complete with unlimited drinks and music. It was a nice concept. We boarded the bus and if you are at all mobility impaired, this is not the tour for you as the climb into the bus is approximately 4 and a half feet up. They have a step stool but the rest of the climb is on the side of the bus and holding on tight. The music provided was 3 men playing instruments and singing. Each row of seats sat 4 to 5 people and was provided with a plastic bottle of rum (probably about 16 ounces) and a 20 ounce bottle of coke and a small bucket of ice. They also provided plastic drinking cups. Our tour guide was a man named Carlos who continually reminded us that Colombia was a perfectly safe country. I don't know if he was trying to convince us or himself.

 

We pulled out of the port on the bus and remember, I said this seemed like a shipping port. It isn't a port like Nassau where you can walk off the ship and out into the town and start shopping. If you don't have an excursion or someone you know meeting you there or if you have never been there, don't think that you can just go off and explore. When you go to Colombia, if you intend to get off the ship, plan in advance what you are going to do. As I explained earlier, Brad and I were only going to do an MSC excursion due to him not having a passport. We planned every second of our trip but especially Colombia. As we departed the port, we drove through a neighborhood. The homes were very poor looking with walls all around them that had razor ribbon on top. If they didn't have razor ribbon, they had broken bottles stood up on the small end to keep people out. Every time we would get to an area like this, Carlos would tell everyone to stand up and dance and the music would get really loud. Brad and I are retired law enforcement and we know a thing or two about diversions. As Carlos would tell us how safe Colombia was, we would drive through a bad area and he would tell everyone to get up and dance, figuring it would distract people from looking at the neighborhood. It was not good.

 

Our first stop on the tour was at a fort that we were just going to take pictures of from a distance. We had to walk from the bus to this little town square- type area. Well of course in this area are vendors. As a matter of fact, the vendors are up against the bus before you even get off of it. In order to get off the bus you have to turn backwards and climb down. At 44 I am able to do this with help from my husband due to neck and hip issues but it was starting to drizzle at this time and I saw a woman 10 years younger than me, at least, slip off and land on her butt. Thankfully, she wasn't hurt and I believe she was indulging in the free rum and coke so she laughed but I bet she felt it the next morning. We walked against my better judgement to the town square area and took pictures. Brad picked this excursion and was really excited about it so I put a smile on my face and went along. Once in the area I felt like I was in Nassau on steroids!! These people did not take no for an answer when told you didn't want to buy their items. Brad had one that followed him all the way back to the bus, grabbing a hold of his arm. Again, being in law enforcement, we don't appreciate unwelcome touching of any kind but what can you do in a foreign country. We were back on the bus several minutes before our departure time, where we continued to be harassed into buying items. We departed this area finally and drove to another fort. This fort was inside the walled city and had shops without the people peddling their wares. The only problem was it started raining, which from what we were told, was a rare occurrence in Colombia. This was going to become somewhat the theme for other excursions on this cruise!! It wasn't sprinkling or drizzling anymore, it was a downpour and it continued until the end of the tour. I would not have minded it so much but remember, I said this was an open air bus. No windows. I was soaked. The last hour of the tour for me was pure torture!! It had nothing to do with the tour company or MSC. It was Mother Nature, nothing could be done about so I made the best of it because Brad was enjoying himself. I was never so happy to see a tour end though!!!

 

The one thing I have not mentioned thus far is how impressed I was with the Captain. His name is Marco Massa. I have been on a number of cruises and you see the captain on formal night for pictures and maybe at the end of the final show. This captain seemed to be everywhere!! Everytime I turned a corner, he was taking to a random passenger. He would talk for 10 minutes or so and then talk to another. He would be at the bars drinking coffee, chatting with other officers or guests. Just an all around friendly guy and made himself accessible to all the passengers. He had a behind the scenes show in the theater on one of the at sea days where a video was shown of areas that were off limits to passengers. After the presentation he took questions from the audience. I could not believe the ridiculous questions/ complaints some of these people came up with but he was very professional and assured them all that he would look into their issue. He made it a priority to make sure his guests were happy and to know everything that was going on on his ship. That is a sign of a great leader!!

 

That brings me to the answer I received in regards to my onboard credit for being silver in the Voyagers Club and booking a Voyagers Selection cruise. The answer that guest services received back was that I was not entitled to it because Cheap Cruises booked me under another promotion after I upgraded to the Aurea balcony in October. The representative told me that I should have been informed by the travel agent that I was going to lose the OBC since they were booking me under a different promotion. This was not true. Cheap Cruises always books me under the same promotion for every cruise I go on. They give you minimal cash back after your cruise based on your cruise fare amount. It is like a mail in rebate and they probably count on people not following through at the end. This promotion has nothing to do with MSC and the Voyager Club promotions. MSC was essentially blaming Cheap Cruises. I told the representative that MSC took $100 worth of OBC from me and in return I paid an upgrade amount of about $1500. Did that seem fair? I asked to speak to the International Host and of course he was not available at the time. The decision according to guest service came from MSC offices on land and was final. I asked the guest services girl what Cheap Cruise ever had to say when it comes to MSC's Loyalty Program? It shouldn't matter what Cheap Cruises promotion is, this was a Voyagers Club promotion!! I, again, was told the decision was final. Seeing I was getting no where and knowing that I would run into the International Host again, I let it go but not for long. Something similar happened to me last year when I upgraded my cabin and my reservation number changed so I was aware that you have to fight with all your might to get what was promised to you. That is the only thing I do not like about MSC. They also like to blame the travel agents. Well most travel agents don't have any idea about MSC because everything that needs to be done on your reservation, they have to call MSC, they can't just do it themselves. Once you get on the ship and call them out on something that is not right, they blame the travel agent.

 

Anyway, day 4 ended with a wonderful dinner and more casino play and drinks!! Then early to bed for Aruba the next day!!!

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milocoman

milocoman

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Was the Sports bar very busy that first day when you passed on the buffet? We may try the same thing.

 

Did you notice any ability to upgrade to the premium drink package once onboard?

 

Any specialty coffee choices for the room service option?

 

Thanks for the review thus far and yes the paragraphs help a lot!! We are booked Friday in an Aurea balcony for a Christmas cruise with the family so I am appreciating all you can provide from memory.

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lisamarieh

lisamarieh

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Was the Sports bar very busy that first day when you passed on the buffet? We may try the same thing.

 

Did you notice any ability to upgrade to the premium drink package once onboard?

 

Any specialty coffee choices for the room service option?

 

Thanks for the review thus far and yes the paragraphs help a lot!! We are booked Friday in an Aurea balcony for a Christmas cruise with the family so I am appreciating all you can provide from memory.

 

The Sports Bar was empty when we got there on Embarkation Day. I thought they probably weren't serving lunch but the bartender told us it was generally quiet. He told us they served food every day starting at 10am, even Embarkation Day and that we were his first customers. I am thinking most people think you still need to pay. It also could be because of the limited menu to chose from. I don't know which but I thought it was one of the best kept secrets on the ship. The other secret I want to share with you is what I referred to as the "out of the way elevators." They are hiding in plain site but will save so much time. If you take the Atrium elevator up to the floor your cabin is on, make a left out of the elevator and then turn right down the hallway with the cabins. Before you have to turn left to continue down the hallway to the next hallway of cabins, there is a alcove/ doorway on your right with one single elevator. Alot of passengers don't use this elevator when leaving their rooms since there are several others before they get to this one. My husband and I used this one quite often even though it was a longer walk from our suite but during busy times you can wait several minutes or longer for an elevator with room for you to get on. This elevator took us right down to deck 5, just outside of the Black Crab lower dining room. There is also another single elevator located directly on the other side of the ship from this one but since it goes up to deck 14, right in front of the buffet, more people seem to use it.

 

As far as upgrading to the premium drink package, I do not know if it is a possibility. We considered doing it but with the vast selection spirits, beer, wines, gelatos, specialty coffees, milkshakes, etc., we saw not reason to upgrade. I love my Patron tequila but I drank maybe 5 or 6 margaritas on the trip. I mainly stuck to wine and Brandy. Twice I bought a cannoli in the bakery to have with a specialty coffee. The cost of a cannoli with the service charge is 86 cents!! I think the cost to upgrade was a little over $300 but I didn't think it was worth it. Before you go to your room for the night you can stop at any of the bars and get a couple bottles of water or soda or juices to put in your mini bar for the morning. We were never limited to the amount of drinks we wanted at one time. They gave us exactly what we asked for.

 

Aurea is the way to go!! I know it all depends on a persons budget and believe me, if I had to pay for a cruise tomorrow, I couldn't do Aurea again but we paid for it over the course of quite a few months (and upgrades!). I just like that it takes the worrying about my bill out of the equation. I like that I can go to dinner when I am hungry, not because it is my assigned time. The spa package they give you is amazing. I never spoke of the Top 18 deck but Brad and I checked it out on the 2nd day. It is nice up there and it is a nice perk for people that like to lay in the sun all day and not have to be annoyed by unattended children. But there is only a hot tub up there, no pool. They have plenty of lounge chairs that are free to use but if you want to use the clamshells to get some shade, they cost $30 for the day. We went there once and that was it. If you want a quiet hot tub closer to the pools, go to deck 16 to the Le Prue hot tub. On the Nassau Day, Brad and I had the entire deck to ourselves, both sides of it!! When you get hot you can go down the stairs in the back of the deck to the Garden Bar and pool.

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milocoman

milocoman

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Great info on the elevators thanks for that we will keep an eye out for them.

 

Being a coffee person were you able to get specialties in the morning or would we be better off saving some Bailey's and adding to standard room service fare?

 

 

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milocoman

milocoman

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Great info, thanks for sharing!

 

 

 

Milocoman - we are on friday's cruise also, fantastica. My first time on MSC, can't wait!

 

 

First time MSC and first time cruising for us. Planning and booked for almost a full year is finally here!! Weather looks good to fly down from Michigan. Safe travels.

 

 

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lisamarieh

lisamarieh

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Thanks so much for writing this detailed review! I keep checking back to see if you have written anymore!

 

Can you tell us what movies under the stars were played on your sailing?

 

Thanks again! Keep it coming!

 

Kim

 

We did not go to what MSC calls "MSC Cinema Al Fresco." I did however, pull out the daily programs so I could make a list for you.

 

Terminator Genisys

Pitch Perfect 2

Ride Along 2

Zoolander 2

Mission Impossible

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Spectre

 

Also, on one of the nights, there wasn't a show scheduled in the theater so at 6pm they showed Cirque Du Soleil: Dralion. At 8:30pm they showed Daddy's Home.

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lisamarieh

lisamarieh

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Great info on the elevators thanks for that we will keep an eye out for them.

 

Being a coffee person were you able to get specialties in the morning or would we be better off saving some Bailey's and adding to standard room service fare?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

My husband went to the Caffe Italia Bar, located on deck 7, overlooking the atrium almost every morning. It opens at 7am and he brought me back a Bailey's Coffee several times. Specialty coffees with alcoholic are included in the classic drink package now. I had read another review that said they weren't but now they are.

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